On December 10, 2010. People’s Daily published an article discussing the development of the culture industry in China. The article stated that the government’s planning for the culture industry and its policies has played an important role in the rapid development of the culture industry. During the 11th Five Year economic development cycle, provinces invested 2.5 billion yuan (US $400 million) in developing the culture industry. The government also worked with several top universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Beijing University, and Tsinghua University, to establish culture industry research centers. A major tenet on the theory side was that the state-owned culture business and the market-based culture industry should co-exist and be the “two wheels” that propel cultural development.

Source: People’s Daily Online, December 10, 2010
http://culture.people.com.cn/GB/13443697.html

China News Service (CNS) reported that Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Dejiang, who is also a member of the Politburo of the CCP Central Committee, recently spoke at the opening ceremony of the World High Speed Railway Conference, saying that China considers the high speed railway industry a strategic emerging industry. The government is giving this industry a high priority. In his speech, Zhang positioned safety as the top focus. He also emphasized “independent innovation” and developing China-owned intellectual property. Zhang called for action on the “Go Out” strategy in this industry as well. This is the first time that the three-day World High Speed Railway Conference was held outside of Europe. The Conference was hosted jointly by the Chinese Ministry of Railways and the International Union of Railways (UIC, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer).

Source: China News Service, December 8, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/cj/2010/12-08/2706780.shtml

China News Service (CNS) reported that Xu Shaoshi, China’s Minister of Land and Resources, commented that there is a 50% shortage in the supply of land used annually for construction. Xu expected the situation to worsen over the next five years. He suggested that, although China is a large country, only 20% of the land resources are livable. Land suitable for agriculture is very limited as well. This requires the farmland protection system to be very restrictive. Industrialization and urbanization are the primary driving forces behind the ever increasing demand for the land used in construction. Meanwhile effective utilization of land is minimal. Xu believes that establishing more restrictive land-use standards and belt-tightening on the use of land for construction are a must for the future.

Source: China News Service, December 7, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/estate/2010/12-07/2706715.shtml